It was a wild Sunday night in the South Point 400 for Kyle Busch.
Busch, who was looking for another win at his hometown track — Las Vegas Motor Speedway — had his bid derailed early in the race when he slapped the wall on lap six. By lap 12, Busch had to pit for repairs, which trapped the No. 18 car down two laps.
Busch would spend the majority of the race trying to battle back from being two laps off the pace, but in the Final Stage Busch had worked some heroics and got back on the lead lap. Busch would continue to knife through the field and would move well inside the top-10.
Then, while attempting to pass the lapped car of Garrett Smithley Busch ran out of room and slammed into the back of the No. 52 car. This obliterated the front-end of the No. 18 car, and Busch faded to a 19th-place finish.
Here's what ticked off @KyleBusch at the end of the race at @LVMotorSpeedway.
Contact with the No. 52 of Garrett Smithley. #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/rDilsgePLV
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 16, 2019
After climbing from the car, Busch was left seething. When approached by NBC Sports, Busch fumed that it’s pathetic the type of drivers who are behind the wheel of the backmarker cars in the Cup Series.
“We’ve got guys that have never won late model races running out here. It’s pathetic.”@KyleBusch was not happy after a run-in with lapped traffic late at @LVMotorSpeedway. pic.twitter.com/zo3V553bp3
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 16, 2019
Busch is upset, and reasonably so. He rebounded from a horrible race, to potentially have a top-five run, only to end back up in 19th.